Military-Intelligence Relations: Explaining the Oxymoron
Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey Rogg (Joint Special Operations University)
Date: 26 April 2023
Speaker Session Summary
SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Jeffrey Rogg(Joint Special Operations University) as part of its SMA General Series.
The professionalization of the US intelligence community has been a long process and frequently limited by the civilian-military relationship. The relationship between the military and intelligence community has historically been confrontational. This is because spying and gathering intelligence was considered dishonorable compared to conventional warfighting. Dr. Rogg pointed out that despite this, intelligence gathering was mentioned in historical military literature, including Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ and Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War.’ Intelligence only became professionalized during the 1900s alongside global industrialization. Intelligence gathering became more important during the industrial revolution because nations had larger armies, communication became easier with the invention of the telegraph, and travel became faster with the development of the railway. The US first created the Office of Naval Intelligence during 1882, modeling it after European nations’ own intelligence agencies. The US intelligence community developed slowly, with military officers moonlighting as intelligence officers in time of war. As the intelligence community developed, questions over whether it should be controlled by the military or civilian sectors began to surface.
Over time, it became widely accepted by military and intelligence leaders that the intelligence community would operate with some autonomy. The creation of the civilian led Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) cemented this relationship. However, there are still questions on whether the intelligence community should primarily support warfighters or civilian decision makers. Dr. Rogg argued that the military does more policy work than the intelligence community, because the intelligence community frequently relays negative information to policy makers that may not corroborate their desired message. The balance between having civilian leadership and being highly integrated into the military is an important check and balance system to protect military and civilian leaders and the general population that they serve.
Speaker Session Recording
Briefing Materials
Dr. Jeffrey Rogg is an assistant professor in the Department of Strategic Intelligence and Emergent Technology at Joint Special Operations University. He is currently revising his book manuscript, The Spy and the State: The Story of American Intelligence, under contract with Oxford University Press. His work has appeared in the International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence, Intelligence and National Security, Just Security, The Washington Post, The National Interest, and the Los Angeles Times. Jeff sits on the editorial board of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence. He also serves as the Communications Director/Newsletter Editor for the Intelligence Studies Section of the International Studies Association and the Virtual Brown Bag Coordinator for the North American Society for Intelligence History. Prior to his position at JSOU, Jeff was an assistant professor in the Department of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel. He was also previously a postdoctoral teaching and research fellow in the National Security Affairs Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Jeff has a BA in Latin and ancient history from Swarthmore College, a JD from Villanova University School of Law, an MA in security studies from Georgetown University, and a PhD in history from The Ohio State University.
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